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'Sheep station on the plains, Challicum, 1843'

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that shows a sheep out-station on the plains at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. A slab hut is depicted in the foreground, while in the distance is a shepherd with his dog and flock. The shepherd's watchbox and the hurdles (portable fences) used to contain ...

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'Sheep station in the forest, Challicum, 1843'

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that shows a sheep out-station in the forest at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. It depicts a slab hut set among red gums ('Eucalyptus camaldulensis'). A watchman is standing in front of the hut, and on the left of the painting is a sheepfold (enclosure) ...

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Third hut at Challicum, 1845

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that depicts the third hut built at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. It shows a weatherboard hut or cottage with an established garden surrounded by a palisade (paling fence). A wooden bridge, which spans a creek, joins a pathway that leads to the front ...

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Syracuse 'Easy' washing machine, 1920s-30s

This is an electric domestic washing machine of a type that was manufactured by the Syracuse Washer Corporation under the name 'Easy' during the 1920s and 30s. The machine is made from enamelled metal and stainless steel, and features two tubs set in a triangular frame. The larger tub is the agitator tub and the smaller ...

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What have we got here: the Darling catchment

This six and a half minute video provides an overview of the Darling River catchment. The overview covers the hydrology, ancient and recent history, communities, environment and industry along the river. The video also looks at the role local land authorities play in natural resource management. The video is one of ten ...

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Threshold 7: Agriculture

This is a short video offering an overview of the developments from the end of the Ice Age, to the establishing of farming practices. Increasing knowledge about the environment, combined with increasingly dense human communities, led to increasing competition for resources. This in turn led to practices such as irrigation ...

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Intro to Archaeology

This is a 5 minute video by a professor of archaeology who explains the work of an archaeologist. Archaeology is divided into two types - historical archaeology which is the study of written records left behind by civilisations, and prehistoric archaeology which is before written records eg the stone age. Archaeologists ...

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Why was agriculture so important?

This 10 minute video in 2 parts offers an overview of the development of agricultural practices in ancient societies. Part 1 discusses the limitations of foraging for food, and the advantages of farming - the domestication of animals and plants for nutrition. This move to agriculture meant humans changed also - technologically, ...

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Gaps and opportunities for perennial crops

This is a video about the scientific breeding of perennial crops as described at a 2013 workshop, 'Perennial crops for food security', held by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). After giving the big picture regarding perennial crop research, the 16-minute video focuses on the breeding of perennial wheat and its ...

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Transition to Agriculture

This 6 minute video explains how agriculture drove change and why humans took the risk of abandoning foraging. As farming technologies improved, populations increased, which led to the growth of villages and then cities. This in turn enabled collective learning, so that farming regions got a head start on other regions. ...

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Why did civilisations expand?

This short video offers an overview of why civilisations expanded, by looking at the past for commonalities and patterns. The need to expand is one such pattern with massive empires growing then collapsing. Expansion was necessary to pay for increasing infrastructure, government and the military, and internal resources ...

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Becoming a Wine Maker

This is a short clip in which a winemaker describes his job and industry including some of his daily tasks, the location of the winery in south-east Queensland’s Granite Belt Region, and the role of that winemaking plays in the agrifoods industry. The winemaker, Peter, works at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism and ...

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How did the world become interconnected?

This 10 minute video in 3 parts offers an overview of the growth of information networks through developments in the technologies of communication and transportation. Part 1 discusses how writing, inventions of paper and printing improved communication between societies and the development of transport and courier systems ...

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The water cycle in the Murray-Darling Basin

This 12 minute video explains the water cycle in the context of the Murray Darling Basin and the great variability in rainfall in the region causing frequent floods and droughts. It highlights the importance of the rivers in the Murray Darling Basin for agriculture, environmental health, water supply, habitat for migratory ...

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How did change accelerate?

This 12 minute video is divided into two parts and presents an overview of the rapid development of the modern world. Part 1 presents reasons for the exponential growth in the world's population over the last 500 years including the development of global networks and commerce and the discovery of fossil fuel energy, which ...

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How did the first humans live?

This 10 minute video in three parts offers an overview of what life was like in the ancient world. Part 1 introduces the Palaeolithic era, marked by the use of stone tools, focusing on Homo Sapiens, and the tools used to study this era - archaeology and anthropology. Part 2 discusses human foraging and the specialist techniques ...

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Where and why did the first cities appear?

This 10 minute video in three parts offers an overview of the development of the agrarian civilisations in the ancient world. Part 1 looks at how, as peasant villages spread, farmers developed more productive methods of farming, particularly the use of large animals for ploughing and transport, and irrigation. Part 2 looks ...

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Urbanisation and human wellbeing

This is an online resource looking at Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, as an example of a megacity. It considers change and growth in Jakarta, reasons for urbanisation and examines some of the problems facing megacities such as inequality of wealth, as well as those specific to Jakarta, particularly its vulnerability ...

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Migrations and technological creativity

This 6 minute video discusses the migrations that occurred in the ancient world. It follows migration from Africa about 90,000 years ago, across all continents until the last migrations into the Americas about 15,000 years ago. The video explores the emergence of technologies and their impact on the environment including ...

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Little J & Big Cuz

These resources provide support for Early Years (K-2) educators with ideas and options for including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander knowledge, understanding and skills in their teaching and learning programs. A filter is provided to guide teachers to resources which relate to specific learning areas and/or year ...